Deuteronomy 5:17 Thou shalt not murder.
Leviticus 24:17 And he that murders any man shall surely be put to death.
Exodus 21:12-14 (ESV) Whoever strikes a man so that he dies shall be put to death. But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint for you a place to which he may flee. But if a man willfully attacks another to kill him by cunning, you shall take him from my altar, that he may die.
Properly translated this says “Thou shalt not murder.” (all translations except the KJV I have checked say murder instead of kill).
There is s difference between killing and murdering.
Killing is ending a life. Any life. Human or animal.
For any reason.
That is not what God is talking about here because He commands the sacrifice of animals (requiring killing them) and later will command the destruction of other nations.
Murder is the taking of a human life for no just reason.
- Killing in war is not murder. It’s sad and should be done as little as possible, but it’s not murder.
- Killing in defense of the innocent is also not murder and is honored by God (as in, if a criminal broke into your home and threatened to kill your child you SHOULD blow him away.)
- It is immoral to NOT kill someone in the process of murdering innocents (i.e. shooting up a school) if you have the chance.
- Killing animals for food is fine, commanded, in fact, by God.
This includes abortion.
Exodus 21:22-25 (KJV) If men fight, and hurt a woman who is with child (pregnant), so that her fruit depart from her (she goes into labor and delivers), and yet no mischief follow (the baby is not damaged): he shall be surely punished, according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay as the judges determine.
23 And if any mischief follow (the baby is damaged or dies), then thou shalt give life for life,
24 Eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,
25 Burning for burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
(If a pregnant woman is hit causing her to go into labor but the baby is fine, the dad sets a penalty within the bounds set by the local judges. If the baby is damaged or dies, whatever damage is done to the baby is to be done to the man who hit the woman.)
The fetus (Latin for offspring or child, by the way), by the time most women know they are pregnant, has her own separate heartbeat, brain waves, immune system, and nervous system. Videos of abortions show us that those babies run from the abortionist’s knife, screaming in pain. There is no logical, scientific reason to say these little ones are not human life.
To kill them because you are not ready to be a parent, can’t afford it, would be too embarrassed to have a kid right now, is to commit murder. Period.
Rape? More than half of all “rapes” in this country are actually consensual sex between an “underage” woman (15, 16) and her adult boyfriend (18-20). This is a problem much more with a society that is artificially extending childhood until women who would be married, responsible adults in any other culture, are called “babies” in ours. This is not rape.
In the majority of the remaining reported rapes, the rapist is the woman’s boyfriend or husband. In other words, she engages in consensual sex on Tuesday, they have an argument and he rapes her on Wednesday. A couple of weeks later she realizes she is pregnant. Which day was the child conceived?
And for the true, violent rapes, since when does a civilized culture execute a baby because their dad is evil (and should be executed)? Mom certainly needs a great deal of compassion and help. But to allow the murder of a child because of the crime of the father is unjust and, in fact, just as evil as what the father did.
The truth is, most women who get pregnant by rape actually choose to deliver the baby, seeing it as something beautiful and healing coming from their trauma. Whether they choose to raise the child or adopt him out, they very often find healing through the birth. Those that keep the child often testify that that child is the greatest blessing God ever gave them; a healing balm for the sin committed against them by the rapist.
Mom’s life in danger? I have studied childbirth in preparation to be a midwife someday. You know what? This is incredibly rare and NEVER happens beyond the first trimester, The doctor can always do a C-section and simply have the baby born prematurely. She may or may not survive, but there is absolutely no excuse to attack and kill the baby directly instead of trying to save her life along with mom’s. An abortion at this stage is not less stressful or dangerous to mom than an induced early delivery or c-section.
The only time I really know of the mom's life being in danger is in the case of a tubal pregnancy, when the baby implants in the Fallopian tube instead of the uterus. Left alone the baby will grow until the tube explodes and both mamma and baby will die.
I like the Catholic Church’s solution to this problem; the doctor may go in and remove the part of the tube the baby is attached to (which will result in the baby’s death, unfortunately) in order to save the very innocent mother’s life. He may not under any circumstances directly harm the baby (abortion involves either cutting the baby’s arms and legs and head off and pulling him out of his mom piece by piece, or dissolving him in acid. In the last trimester, it involves delivering the baby's body but not head, and either cutting the umbilical cord and letting the baby bleed to death, injecting alcohol into the baby's brain, sucking the baby's brain out with a vacuum, or snipping the spinal column. None of these is less traumatic, physically, for mom than simply delivering the whole baby at once.)
Matthew 5:21 Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, "Thou shall not murder, and whoever shall murder shall be in danger of the judgment."
22 But I say to you, That whoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of divine judgment, and whoever insults his brother, shall be in danger of being sued. But whoever shall say, "Thou Idiot!" shall be in danger of hell fire.
1 John 3:15 15 “Whoever hates his brother is a murderer, and ye know that no murderer has eternal life abiding in him.”
Romans 12:17-21 (ESV) Repay no one evil for evil, but give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all. Beloved, never avenge yourselves, but leave it to the wrath of God, for it is written, “Vengeance is mine, I will repay, says the Lord.” To the contrary, “if your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink; for by so doing you will heap burning coals on his head.” Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.
Romans 13:9 (ESV) For the commandments, “You shall not commit adultery, You shall not murder, You shall not steal, You shall not covet,” and any other commandment, are summed up in this word: “You shall love your neighbor as yourself.”
In the New Testament, we are not only commanded to abstain from murder, but from hate! God raised the standard for the New Covenant!